Tag Archives: 2018

A Postcard From: Marie Mach ’18

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Name: Marie Mach
Class Year: 2018
Major: Double major in Russian and Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology
Hometown: Dumfries, Va.

Internship Placement: Capita Translation and Interpreting
Job Title: Project Management Intern
Location: Oldham, United Kingdom

What’s happening at your internship?

I’m currently interning at Capita Translation and Interpreting, a company that specializes in … translation and interpreting. However, there is so much more to the company than translation. In fact, we only have 2-3 in-house translators. What the company does, instead, is form links between companies and organizations that need translations completed, and qualified linguists that are able to help companies complete these translations.

Interns can work in different sectors — as far as I’m aware, there are a few interns currently working in the sales and finance departments. However, I’m working on the project management department. This means that I basically work as the middle man (woman?) when helping a company get a translation done. For example, I’m currently working on a project for a well-known Middle Eastern airline that needs translations done for the Brazilian Portuguese version of their website. For the past month, I’ve been working with Brazilian translators to ensure that different sections of this company’s website are translated from Arabic and English into Brazilian Portuguese. As this is going on, I keep in contact with the airline’s office in Dubai to make sure that their translation goals are being met. This is only one (and admittedly, a quite large) aspect of my job. I also conduct checks on bilingual files meant for publication. For example, if a Russian clothing company wants to advertise in the U.K, I compare the original Russian and the English translation side by side, searching for poor translations, improper formatting issues, or other mistakes that could cause issues for the client in the future.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I’ve always been interested in translation as a discipline, particularly literary translation. However, I had no idea how the commercial translation industry worked, so I thought I would take a look and learn as much as I could about it. Commercial translation makes up such a large part of our world that I thought it would be foolish for a language student to not have any idea how it worked. Also, as a student studying archaeology (and as someone who would like to continue studying archaeology in the future), I thought that it would be wise to gain some skills in the business world. This company is linguistically diverse, which I absolutely adore. Almost every employee is bilingual, if not trilingual! But, it has also taught me how a large business operates, and what skills are needed to keep it in going. Hopefully, I can use these project management skills in a future career!

Was there anything special about how you found this internship?

Over winter break, I simply did a Google search for different translation companies in the U.S and the U.K. At the time, I had no idea that most translators were freelancers — I assumed that working in the language industry would involve sitting in a room full of translators translating documents for their respective clients. When I realized that I couldn’t find an internship as an actual translator, I decided to take the plunge and apply for an internship in the project management department of Capita Translation and Interpreting.

My advice is to try something new. If you’re having a difficult time finding an internship in your field, try to branch out and look for something that may be similar, but not exactly what you had been aiming for. I was aiming for translation, but ended up in project management. But, I have no regrets — I’ve learned so much about the language industry this way.

Was this internship what you expected it to be?

I had no idea what to expect going into this internship, despite reading about what project management entailed. Would I be doing mainly administrative tasks, or would I be working on projects closer to what an actual project manager would? It turned out to be a mix of both; in the beginning of my internship, I was assigned mainly administrative tasks. However, as time progressed, I began taking on larger and larger projects, while at the same time working on more minor tasks. I consider this to be an ideal mix — I was able to gradually dip my toes into the world of project management and the language industry. My supervisors didn’t throw me into the deep end on my first day, thankfully!

A Postcard From: Devica Bhutani ’18

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Name: Devica Bhutani
Class Year: 2018
Major: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Minor: Dance
Hometown: Plymouth Meeting, Pa.

Internship Placement: The Franklin Institute
Job Title: Discovery Camp CIT Coordinator
Location: Philadelphia

Benjamin Franklin Statue 1

Discovery Camp at the Franklin Institute is a 12-week day camp for children. Ages range from pre-K campers to ninth graders. This camp promotes curiosity in the sciences, as it takes place at one of the country’s best science museums. Each week at camp there is a different science theme;this past week was Messy Chemistry. This camp needs a plethora of personnel to run smoothly: the directors, facilitators, counselors, interns, counselors in training (CITs), and more.

My role as a CIT Coordinator is to act as a supervisor for the CITs. Throughout the week, my co-worker and I create CIT schedules and provide help in the classroom. At the peak of camp, there will be nine full classrooms, and 22 CITs. In addition to scheduling the campers, I am constantly walking through the museum to check-in on the CITs to make sure they are performing their tasks. Through observations and feedback from counselors, I help create evaluations for the CITs to help them grow as people and to help them succeed throughout their time at camp. More importantly, I am there to provide them with resources if they encounter any major problems. To develop a good work relationship, I hold mid-week meetings for the CITs to get to know them, learn about their week, and to remind them of any pertinent information regarding camp. On occasion, I help in classrooms if a counselor needs a few extra hands with their campers.

I applied to this internship because I am a people person and wanted to have the opportunity to interact with people with a multitude of skills and experience. I also wanted to be in an environment filled with science and technology, but not necessarily be working in a lab, tucked away in Park Science Building, which I don’t mind working on during the school year.

So far, my favorite part of this internship has been meeting so many different people, with varying experiences, all working at a science museum. There are people who have earned master’s degrees and PhDs in science-related fields, and then people who are currently majoring in early education and special education, and people in between. Even though everyone has different experiences, we are all working at the Franklin Institute to ensure Discovery Camp runs smoothly.

I’m learning a lot of important people skills that will be immensely helpful in the future. I am learning how to hold people accountable, and how to handle a situation when they are not. I am also learning how to get people’s attention and get people to refocus — whether that be at a CIT meeting, or if I’m helping a counselor with a rowdy classroom. I am really enjoying my time at Discovery Camp at the Franklin Institute and am looking forward to the remainder of my time here.

A Postcard From: Christianna Kutz ’18

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Name: Christianna Kutz
Class Year: 2018
Major: Biochemistry
Hometown: Frederick, Md.

Internship Placement: Malachowski Research Lab
Job Title: Intern
Location: Bryn Mawr College

What’s happening at your internship?

I am currently working on the IDO project, which focuses on synthesizing indoleamine 2,3-deoxygenase-1 (IDO-1) inhibitors. More specially, I am focusing on the synthesis of a 4-phenyl-imidazole molecule that contains an electrophilic group located in the meta position of the phenyl ring. This will allow it to bind to IDO-1 as well as hopefully form a covalent linkage with IDO’s Cys-129 group. In order to achieve this, I begin with synthesizing the imidazole ring and then I manipulate the phenyl ring to install an electrophilic group. The finished product will then be sent for initial testing at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (isolated enzyme) and then further testing at the Lankenau Institute of Medical Research (cellular system).

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship because I am very interested in this type of research work and wish to eventually have a career in a very similar field. Also, I plan to do a thesis with Dr. Malachowski using the work I’ve done in his lab.

Living in a new city? What has that experience been like for you?

It’s my first time living away from home in an apartment. I don’t have a car so I use SEPTA a lot. However, it’s frustrating when the train or bus ends up being delayed by half an hour and my entire schedule gets affected.

What is most rewarding about your internship?

The most rewarding thing about my internship is when after a lot of hard work and some failures, I am able to get a reaction to succeed. Sometimes even the smallest detail (e.g. increasing reaction time slightly) can make the biggest difference. It’s always great when the product I’ve synthesized turns out to be the one I was hoping for. Reactions don’t always work out and sometimes a different path needs to be chosen. However, when they do work after failing a few times, it’s the best.

A Postcard From: Farida Ilboudo ’18

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Name: Farida Ilboudo
Class Year: 2018
Major: Anthropology
Hometown: New York

Internship Placement: Alma Mater Education
Job Title: Development Assistant

What’s happening at your internship?

A lot of things are happening at my internship. Because the organization is new, it has been a bit difficult to fully develop a consistent work schedule and task. With the heads of the organization, many located in the UK and Ghana, and one located in Washington, it has a been a bit difficult to completely grasp my role and task. I have been assigned the duty of development assistant and I was not sure what exactly is expected of me and from me. I do really have great interest in independent organizations that are building schools with the input of Africans in Africa, particularly Ghana. I really look forward to learning how to start my own organization that does not invade and performs the role of westerner coming to save Africa and how to provide adequate education to many in Africa and hopefully in the country that I was born and raised in. Despite the challenges presented by the new role … I am still very thrilled and dedicated to learning more and raising funds for the organization.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship because it provided me with a way to consider my future. I am very interested in education and educational development in Africa. As someone who briefly experience the educational system in an African country, I am invested and dedicated to learning about post-colonial education and how a combination of the Western education system and the post-colonial education system present in many African countries can provide a new and improved satisfactory system. Alma Mater Education is a Western-based education organization that has built schools in Ghana, providing students the education I envision for the future of schools.

Was there anything special about how you found this internship?

I found this internship after being a Lagim Tehi Tuma: Thinking Together Fellow. Alice Lesnick, who is the professor and program director, introduced me to Jason Tsichlis, the now Agriculture Director. Jason was a Peace Corps volunteer in Burkina Faso, which is where I was born and raised. He found this documentary that focused on Musicians in Mali, who rebelled against a Jihadist ban on music. As a member of Bryn Mawr’s African and Caribbean Student Organization Executive Board, I met Jason and we began speaking about BACaSO renting the documentary, our mutual love for Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and our interest in education. From these conversations came the conversation about Alma Mater and how I could join the team.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced at your internship?

The biggest challenge I have faced at my internship is the great independence and new role. When I first began working for Alma Mater, I was assigned the role of program assistant, which was never really clear what was expected and required. I have been assigned the great task of raising revenue for the organization through fund raising and grant writing and I have zero experience with the two. I have been given the liberty of coming up with creative ways to raise the funds but so far all of my efforts have not lead to any donations. Given that there is only one person working from the U.S., besides myself, I find it a little difficult not having a directly given assignment that I can work on that I feel like I can confidently do. I am looking forward to the skills I will acquire fund raising, but most importantly, I am looking forward to learning what goes into grant writing so that I may begin writing them and also learn the ins and outs of developing an organization like Alma Mater.

A Postcard From: Hannah Griggs ’18

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Name: Hannah Griggs
Class Year: 2018
Major: Physics, Math
Hometown: Vienna, Va.

On a weekend trip to Barcelona, Spain.

Leibniz Universität

Internship Placement: Max Planck Institut für Gravitationsphysik (Albert Einstein Institute)
Job Title: Observation-based Relativity and Cosmology Group Intern
Location: Hanover, Germany

What’s happening at your internship?

My team and I work with developing programs for estimating the parameters of black hole systems that collide and produce gravitational waves large enough for LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) to detect on Earth. That includes estimating things like the masses of the coalescing and final black holes, their spins, their distance from us, and much more. The specific project we have for this summer is to work on developing a method of determining whether or not those black holes (and potentially neutron stars!) exist in triple systems. A third massive object in the coalescing black holes’ system would result in an acceleration of the black holes which would produce a phase shift in the gravitational waves that we detect on Earth. We would be able to see such a shift by computationally predicting potential Doppler effects, as an example of physical effects we should be able to detect. Our predictions will be combined into existing LIGO data analysis code to make overall analysis more robust.

Why did you apply for this internship?

Fall semester of last year, I went to a physics colloquium at Haverford given by Rashid Sunyaev, the director of the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics. The talk was not only very fun, but it also gave me the idea to look abroad for internship opportunities. As a double STEM major, going abroad is difficult, so I loved the idea of not only doing great research through the Max Planck society, but also being able to do it while in Germany. Combined with my love for astrophysics and my interest in cutting-edge research, the gravitational physics branch of the MPS was the perfect fit. Gravitational astrophysics is an exciting field and I am so excited to have a chance to learn more about it here at the AEI and improve my computational skills.

Living in a new city? What has that experience been like for you?

Living in Hanover is exciting for me because not only is it a fascinating city, but it’s central location makes traveling very easy. I have the opportunity to see so much of Europe that I never thought I would. Especially interesting has been several of the smaller towns in Germany like Goslar, which I would have had to overlook if I didn’t have a full summer to work with.  On the other hand, I came here with pretty much zero knowledge of German, which has presented some challenges. I have found the people in Germany to be very accommodating, however, and willing to help me learn. Overall, I am already very glad that I decided to take this risk and it has been paying off since the moment I got here.

What is most rewarding about your internship?

I am learning much more about computer science than I ever thought I would. The new computational and gravitational physics skills that I am developing along with starting to understand some German have been some of the most satisfying aspects of my internship experience. I think the most rewarding thing is the feeling of being able to understand something that was completely foreign to me just a few weeks ago. Not to mention, the community of the institute is very tight-knit, making my transition to working here very smooth and the overall social environment super rewarding. It’s given me so many great new friends and travel buddies that will make the rest of my experience here increasingly fulfilling.

A Postcard From: Amala Someshwar ’18

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Name: Amala Someshwar
Class Year: 2018
Major: Psychology
Hometown: Montclair, N.J./Bangalore, India

Internship Placement: The Institute for Immigration, Globalization, and Education at UCLA; Professor Carola Suárez-Orozco
Job Title: Research Assistant
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.

What’s happening at your internship?

I spend most of my day in the lab either on my own or with some of Professor Suárez-Orozco’s grad students. The past few weeks have been spent creating and refining a code book (basically a book with definitions that allow us to transform observations from a video to numbers that a software can understand). It’s a lot of intense focusing on the videos we’re watching and understanding the interactions as well as following the definitions closely because at the end of it all, each video should be able to be coded the same way by different people.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied because I think her work is incredibly important and the current study she’s working on is so pertinent to today. I also was really intrigued by the methods she uses for data collection and analysis and wanted to be more directly involved in that form of study.

Was there anything special about how you found this internship?

I was able to get in touch with Professor Suárez-Orozco thanks to a professor at Bryn Mawr who knew one of her grad students and also knew I was really interested in this area of study. From there, I emailed her a lot and was interviewed by her. When I found out I got it, I was really excited because I honestly hadn’t expected to because she had said she doesn’t normally take undergrads (since her lab is mostly made up of grad students who will continue to work with her through their dissertations).

What is something you have learned from your internship that you didn’t expect?

I hadn’t expected to be doing similar work in the lab as her grad students so I was surprised at how hands-on my role in the lab has been. I think I had expected that I would be playing a more do-as-I’m-told role as opposed to being an active participant in the creation and modification of the coding system and analysis of data. It took some adjustment to recognize that in lab meetings, she wanted me to provide my opinion on each adjustment we were making in the same way she wanted to hear from her grad students. It’s been a really good opportunity to learn not only more about the work she specifically does but also the dynamics of grad school in general.

A Postcard From: Xuan Huang ’18

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Name: Xuan Huang
Class Year: 2018
Major: Computer Science
Hometown: China

Internship Placement: Computer Graphics Summer Research
Job Title: Researcher
Location: UPenn

What’s happening at your internship?

There are about 20 students and three professors here at lab, and we are divided into groups of different research projects. The main focus is VR technology, as we are in the computer animation field and that’s the ongoing hot topic.
Currently, I stay in a group of three on eye simulation. The goal is to provide realistic 3D eye region construction. The tool we are using is Autodesk Maya, and I have to learn it myself really quickly, as all other people have learned that from their major required course. Then we will do some research on how the eyes are moving statistically, and hopefully reconstruct a “typical eye” under specified situations, for example: tired, disgusted or annoyed.

Why did you apply for this internship?

It very much fits my interest in computer graphics, and animation is a subfield that I never tried and probably wouldn’t have chance to learn at Bryn Mawr (there is a huge amount of labor and data required). So I applied to see if that’s what I wish to do in graduate school.

Was there anything special about how you found this internship?

Yes, that’s quite an interesting story, just a bit long.

In the spring of my junior year, I was looking for any research opportunity in summer but only spotted few. I’m pretty much sure that I will apply for graduate school in computer graphics. While that sounds fancy as those are used in games and films, there just not that much an undergrad could do. Plus being an international student limits my choices furthermore.

So by the end of March, which is the typical deadline for REUs, I applied to three computer science research projects that do not reject international students explicitly, and none of them has anything to do with graphics.

That didn’t feel good. So I went for other ways to look for opportunities. There are two professors at Swarthmore that are teaching graphics and animation course, so I went to ask if they would took any student in summer, and soon learned that the first professor  himself is not in graphics but a computer system professor, and the latter is a new professor who did not have the chance to conduct any research there yet. After our meeting, however, she mentioned that she knew there is a summer research project happening every summer at Penn and she could ask about it for me.

Then everything works out magically — the lab needs people; the subjects are ones I’m interested in; LILAC funding ensures that my identity as international students doesn’t become a problem.

What is something you have learned from your internship that you didn’t expect?

There is this other part of computer graphics that is very different from what I learned at Bryn Mawr. I have taken the graphics class here in fall, and conduct research on that since last summer. What I’d been doing is completely manageable just by myself. The programs we wrote are small (within a month) and the papers I’d been looking at are direct and specific, mostly theoretical based with a lot of math and geometry involved.
Here at Penn I realized they are doing something really different. All students here from Penn are digital media (a major under computer graphics) majors and they are dealing with much more industrial-level tasks — we are here expected to use professional modeling tools and the most up-to-date game engine. Many projects involve more than 10 people. Even in my group where there are only three, there is still a big amount of labor required in moving on — something has to be handcrafted to start with or in order for it to look good without huge computational cost. The papers we’ve been reading are more experimental based and some mainly provides statistical results. And a single (not too sophisticated in terms of ideas) project could last for years.

The field has its side (or even main stream) as heavily implementation based, and that is something I never get to know so much by myself. That will be something to think of when making later academic choices.

A Postcard From: Jamie DiDomenico ’18

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Name: Jamie DiDomenico
Class Year: 2018
Major: Psychology
Minor: Child and Family Studies
Hometown: Staten Island, N.Y.

Internship Placement: Summer Science Research Program
Job Title: Research Intern
Location: Bryn Mawr College

What’s happening at your internship?

For my last summer at Bryn Mawr College, I was accepted into Bryn Mawr’s Summer Science Research Program. Through this program, I am conducting cross-cultural psychological research with Dr. Heejung Park on how acculturation, or the process of adjusting to the host culture when multiple cultures come into contact, influences multiethnic families in South Korea. More specifically, I am examining the influence of acculturation on immigrant mothers’s behaviors and how those behaviors relate to their children’s behaviors and well-being in South Korea. Through conducting an in-depth literature review on multiethnic families, I have formed a hypothesis that suggests that adolescents will experience poorer well-being when mothers are less acculturated to Korean culture. Additionally, I hypothesize that this association would be explained by less acculturated mothers’s more negative parenting practices, which in turn would be associated with adolescents’ poorer well-being. As I continue my research, I will analyze data that was collected from 1,635 children and 1,625 of their mothers that allowed mothers to self-report their acculturation levels and parenting behaviors and adolescents to self-report their well-being.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied to the Summer Science Research Program to gain experience in conducting my own research. As a rising senior, I thought that this opportunity would be extremely helpful in teaching me the skills necessary to create my research-orientated thesis in the upcoming academic year. Additionally, I believe that this experience can help me decide whether or not research is a career path I would like to follow in the future.

Can you talk about the skills you are learning and why they are important to you?

I am gaining so many important skills from this program. Two of the most important skills that I feel I am gaining are patience and perseverance. Through conducting my own research, I am learning that researching any question is a slow and lengthy process, as there are many steps that need to be completed with precision and care. In consequence, I am learning how to think and conduct my research in an efficient manner that I believe is helping me consistently produce work related to my project and will help me develop my thesis in the future.

What is most rewarding about your internship?

I have found the potential for my research to shed knowledge on the implications of acculturation on a culturally unique and understudied population to be incredibly rewarding. Not only may my research provide information about immigrant mothers in South Korea, but it may also shed light on the implications of globalization. The ability for research to educate politicians, professionals, and the public on the implications of our changing society motivates me to continue my research now and in the upcoming years so positive and beneficial change can take place.

A Postcard From: Zhengyi Xu ’18

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Name: Zhengyi Xu
Class Year: 2018
Major: Math
Hometown: Hangzhou
Internship Placement: Shenwanhongyuan Securities, Hangzhou Branch
Job Title: Intern
Location: Hangzhou, China

What’s happening at your internship?

This summer, I am interning in the Investment Banking Department of Shenwanhongyuan Securities. Our team focuses on listing enterprises in NEEQ market (National Equities Exchange and Quotation). NEEQ market is China’s newest stock market. It is an over-the-counter (OTC) market that provides greater depth of financing options for Chinese Mainland small-to-medium enterprises.

In this internship, I have written a report briefing the situation of the gear manufacturing industry in China and analyzing the future development of one enterprise we are current taking charge of; I have finished a proposal for our new project of a clothing manufacture company I was following. Also I am responsible for collecting our previous costumers’ contact information and getting their feedback.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I hope this internship can contribute to my future career. I want to apply for financial mathematics for graduate school, therefore this internship offers me a chance to see what kind of work is done in the investment banking department, and what kind of skills I need to prepare for my future career.

Was there anything special about how you found this internship?

I had an internship in Hongyuan Securities in the summer of my freshman year. That internship was interesting and I had a good experience there communicating with people from the securities industry, so this year I applied for the internship in the Investment Banking Department in Hangzhou Branch. I always want to know about the jobs in finance, specially the job in IBD, and joining in a small group can provide me a chance to get close with my teammates and learn from them, and do more important work.

What has been your favorite part of this internship?

My favorite part of this internship is talking with people from banks, enterprises, and investment companies. From the conversations with those people we get to know what kind of service they need and how to cooperate in the future; from this process, I understand the financial market comprehensively and learn more information about other areas in the finance industry.

A Postcard From: Darby Andre ’18

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Name: Darby Andre
Class Year: 2018
Major: Sociology
Hometown: Fleetwood, Pa.
Internship Placement: The Franklin Institute
Job Title: Development Intern
Location: Philadelphia

What’s happening at your internship?

This summer I’m interning with The Franklin Institute’s External Affairs Department, dealing with fundraising, events, and membership. I’ve been learning about all the writing, planning, and management that go into successfully engaging and cultivating donors to the museum. So much goes on behind the scenes at The Franklin Institute that makes all the really cool programs possible. I’ve been writing donor proposals, prepping materials for our various fundraising events, and helping the team with all their office needs.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship at The Franklin Institute because I wanted to get experience in a fundraising department at a nonprofit. I’ve been thinking about working for a year or two before I go to grad school, so I wanted to explore some other career options related to sociology. While I had been interested in working for a nonprofit after graduation, I didn’t know a lot about how nonprofits operated. I thought interning with a really successful development department in the Philadelphia area would be a great learning experience in the city I hope to live in after graduation.

Can you talk about the skills you are learning and why they are important to you?

This might sound a little bland, but I’ve been learning a lot about the program Raiser’s Edge, which is a database used for fundraising in most nonprofits. It’s going to be something really important to put on my resume and have experience in for future nonprofit jobs!

What is most rewarding about your internship?

It’s been really cool to actually see the results of the work our department does. For example, I worked on prepping for an event that helped raise money to give all of our STEM scholars laptops before they go to college, and now I get to actually put the laptops in cases and write nametags for all the students. Next week, I’ll get to go to the event where each student receives their laptop. It’s been really rewarding to work for a department and a nonprofit that gives back to the community and be able to see that tangible progress.